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thedrifter
06-20-04, 06:07 AM
With his Marine wife serving her country in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Michael Mink raises their five children
Jeff McDonald
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 20, 2004


He tries not to dwell on the pervasive heat smothering his wife halfway around the globe. Or the time someone shot a rocket-propelled grenade through her office door, steps from her desk. Or the worry that haunts him each minute Staff Sgt. Angela C. Mink spends in Iraq.

So Michael Mink bears down and does his jobs. Both of them.

A 16-year Marine Corps veteran who has traveled the world in times of war and peace, Mink is now a public affairs officer at Camp Pendleton. He's also a newlywed with five children under 14, including one who is partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair.

This afternoon, the Murphy Canyon Heights family plans to do something special for Father's Day: presents for Dad, maybe a few hours at the beach and definitely dinner out.

By early tomorrow morning, however, around 4 a.m. if routine holds, it will be back to work, school for most of the children and a return to the discipline and structure that has guided Mink more than ever over the past months.

"In the mornings, it's crazy," said Mink, who like his wife is a staff sergeant. "They have breakfast together, they get dressed. The book bags have got to be near the door. . . . They know what needs to be done."

The routine after school, which runs year round, is much the same – chores, homework and only then playtime with friends from the neighborhood. It is an enclave of military housing built on a mesa above Murphy Canyon, a place where children scratch chalk drawings on driveways and basketball hoops rise on nearly every block.

"I get home at 6, and it's dinner and showers," Mink said.

The five kids – Jo Elizabeth, 13; Michael Jr., 11; Madison, 11; Kolby, 9; and Anthony, 8 – are in their rooms by 8 p.m. They get a half-hour of book time before the lights go out.

With more men being pressed into active duty, fathers are disappearing from Mink's block. That makes the 37-year-old communications whiz something of a rarity in the close-knit world of military families: a career Marine raising five kids while his wife is deployed.

First meeting
Michael Mink met Angela Strong in the public affairs circles at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in early 2001. He had just relocated from Okinawa, Japan, where he was served divorce papers from his first wife, with whom he had two sons.

The staff sergeants became fast friends and remained that way for two years. In January 2003, as the United States prepared to invade Iraq, Mink got orders to Iraq that would stretch at least seven months. Angela, a divorced mother of three girls, promised to look in on Mink's boys while they stayed with their mother.

The months were long and difficult, but the distance and separation somehow drew Mink and Strong closer. They traded e-mail and spoke by phone when they could. They edited each other's articles for Marine Corps publications.

Their relationship changed dramatically.

"I got back and things were different between us," Mink said. "A lot different."

That was in August. Mink and Strong, 33, soon became engaged and were married in February in a small civil ceremony. He and his sons moved into the Murphy Canyon Heights house shared by Strong and her three daughters.

One week later, Angela Mink was sent to Iraq.

It didn't take Mink long to master his new role as parent to five. He simply applied the managerial and organizational skills he cultivated as a Marine.

The girls even today call him "Mr. Mike," a formality left over from his dating days with their mother.

Weekdays are regimented from the hour the children awake until bedtime. On weekends, they shop and clean house, then save one day for a family outing.

"Costco's my best friend," Mink said.

Despite sheltering five young children, and usually two adults, the house on Gainard Way is orderly. A dozen pairs of shoes are set squarely inside the front door. The kitchen is clean, toys are put away, and the living room is neat.

None of that is by happenstance. The structure and routine Mink demands of himself and his children help push away thoughts of the danger his wife faces every minute.

"With the kids, the job, the kids again, it keeps my mind off what she's doing, the possibility of her getting shot or RPGd," he said, using military-speak for a rocket-propelled grenade. "She's doing the same exact job as when I was there."

Now the overriding worry is that Angela's seven-month deployment might be extended to spring.


Military neighborhood
The Minks live in a modest duplex in a 1970s subdivision of military homes for which families wait months, or even years, to qualify.

American flags hang from many of the front yards. SUVs and minivans with "Go Navy" and "Semper Fi" bumper stickers are parked in almost every driveway.

Mothers pushing strollers make their way home from nearby playgrounds, and kids on bikes roll along the sidewalks.

According to the 2000 Census, Murphy Canyon Heights is the only community in San Diego County with more children than adults. Nearly 54 percent of the 10,000 or so residents are under 18, a great many of them the sons and daughters of military personnel.

Military families tend to look out for one another. When Mink was deployed in Iraq, another Marine taught his older boy to ride a bike. Mink reciprocates by doing whatever he can for the children of men now serving overseas.

"It's like an unwritten rule," he said. "You know the dad's deployed, even if the mom's deployed, you do what you can to help."

Along Gainard Way, neighbor Dildrea Kangas has taken to watching in the mornings to make sure Mink's kids get off to school safely.

When she gets back from walking her own children to nearby Miller Elementary School, Kangas checks Mink's house to make sure everything is turned off and the front door is locked.

"I've been trying to get this man some vegetation time," she said about Mink, "but he always says, 'No, I need to be with the kids.'"


'Communication is key'
The work of a Marine Corps public affairs officer in wartime starts early and never ends.

On weekday mornings, Mink leaves Murphy Canyon Heights by 6 a.m. to make the 7:15 formation. He's on the phone constantly in the car or at home for business reasons and for his kids.

The children's teachers have all of his numbers – the cell, the office, his boss's line, just in case. So does his day-care provider, who comes before the kids get home from school and stays until Mink returns.

"I have to know exactly what they're doing," Mink said. "Communication is key, so I know if these guys are trying to slide one by me."

At home, he relies on the 11-year-olds not just for house chores, but also to look after the smaller ones and 13-year-old Jo, who suffers from schizencephaly, a neuromuscular disorder that has robbed her of the full use of her left arm and legs.

Despite Jo's illness, Mink is constantly pushing the girl to do things for herself.

"I'm looking at trying to prepare her for adulthood, so I lean on her a lot," he said during Jo's recent graduation from Vista Grande Elementary School. "She's not going to have a normal life."

That afternoon, Jo smiled broadly through the ceremony. Then she threw her right fist into the air as Principal Alan Richmond announced that she had earned a presidential award for educational achievement. Her classmates beamed.

So did Mink. But he has high expectations for Jo and her siblings.

"They're doing awesome, but we still expect more," he said. "If you stop expecting more, they get lax and it's harder to bring them around."

When 8-year-old Anthony brings home a progress report that indicates he has been talkative and disruptive in school, Mink gets serious. It doesn't matter that two strangers are in the house.

"I'm talking about discipline and doing the right thing," he tells his youngest son. "That's unacceptable, and I won't tolerate it. Now I've got to call your teacher Monday and get details."


Phone call from Mom
It's well past midnight on the other side of the world. An anxious mother has been thinking all day about her oldest daughter's graduation. She expects the family will be home by early afternoon San Diego time and dials her house.

Mink speaks for only a few seconds before passing the phone to Jo, who is still wearing the pink plastic lei she was given at school. Kolby is swinging a yo-yo in the living room. Anthony grabs the latest Harry Potter book and takes a seat.

The conversation is going well; at least, the girl is smiling into the telephone. A few minutes later, the mother tells one of the two strangers how grateful she is to have found Michael Mink.

"He does a really good job, he really does," she said from Camp Al Asad, about 100 miles west of Baghdad. "Last year this time, he was deployed. So I know exactly where he is. I got the best guy in the world."

Angela Mink conceded that she worried being away from Jo and the others. No one else has ever taken care of her oldest daughter.

"It's always been me," she said.

Mink is back on the phone with his wife when Madison chimes in from the other room, "Tell her I love her."

Jeff McDonald: (619) 542-4585; jeff.mcdonald@uniontrib.com

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040620/images/2004-06-20news_main.jpg

NADIA BOROWSKI SCOTT / Union-Tribune
Staff Sgt. Michael Mink says the skills he learned as a Marine have helped him care for his five children (clockwise, top left) – Jo Elizabeth, 13; Michael Jr., 11; Kolby, 9; Anthony, 8; and Madison, 11 – since his wife, Staff Sgt. Angela Mink, has been in Iraq.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040620-9999-lz1m20father.html


Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 06:08 AM
Marines maintain vigil on vital travel route
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200462043837
Story by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald



AR RAMADI, Iraq(June 13, 2004) -- The Marines of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment have nicknamed the observation post overlooking the city "seven-story building."

The building, one of the city's agricultural centers, is located along a stretch of road known to Coalition Forces as Main Supply Route Michigan.

"MSR Michigan is one of our most frequently used roads," explained Cpl. Phillip B. McClure, 20-year-old squad leader. "We provide an overwatch to make sure anti-Coalition Forces cannot operate along here."

According to the Trenton, Mo., infantryman, squads from the company rotate the post.

Marines are on guard at any given time keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity in the street 90 feet below.

"Our job is to make sure no one plants improvised explosive devices," said Pfc. Josh J. Hay, 19. "We just look for anything out of the ordinary."

McClure said the task is more difficult than it sounds.

"Some of the normal things the Iraqis do sometimes seems strange to us," McClure explained. "It's up to us to decipher what is normal behavior and what is suspicious activity."

Dozens of Iraqi stores and offices line the sides of MSR Michigan, and thousands of people live and conduct business here. Spotting a terrorist among the masses proves to be
like finding a needle in a haystack, according to McClure.

And the Marines of his squad couldn't agree more.

"This is one of the highest points in Ramadi," Pfc. Jimmy D. Prickett, 19-year-old from Stroud, Okla. "We can see a lot of MSR Michigan from here and we have to pay attention to every car that drives by and every person that walks by."

Prickett said his squad has been fortunate because it has not "seen too much trouble," but that doesn't mean the Marines haven't had close calls up on the roof.

Both he and McClure remembered a few nights ago when they received enemy AK-47 fire directly over their heads.

"We could see the tracer rounds flying overhead. It was just a random act of terrorism," McClure said describing the event. "That's the kind of stuff we have to deal with up here sometimes."

But because the Marines could not distinguish a positive target, they refrained from returning fire.

"My Marines don't like to get fired at and not be able to shoot back," McClure said. "But they don't want to accidentally hit friendly forces or innocent Iraqis, so they know to do the right thing. They're very disciplined."

Although the Marines are dedicated to hunting those who want to harm Coalition Forces and Iraqi civilians, the atmosphere on the roof of the seven-story building is relaxed.

Even the Iraqis who work inside the building don't seem too bothered with the Marine presence.

"It's a pretty secure location," McClure explained. "The locals working here are really friendly to us. They sometimes come here and try to talk to us."

He said many of the visitors ask for medical help from the squad's corpsmen, like Navy Seaman Jared P. White, a 19-year-old from Joplin, Mo.

When White, who describes himself as a corpsman slash infantryman, isn't standing guard, he takes time to aid the Iraqis.

As the day wears on, the Marines who are not standing post have to find things to occupy their time.

"The Marines are really good about finding stuff to do," McClure said. "We read, clean weapons, sleep or reminisce about the old times."

Still, the Marines are quick to remember why they are manning the post. When it's time stand guard, they're prepared to handle anything thrown their way.

"We keep a close on eye on everything that goes on below to protect all the troops and convoys that pass through MSR Michigan," Prickett said.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200462044057/$file/fox1lr.jpg

Pfc. Jimmy D. Prickett, infantryman with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, keeps a watch out for suspicious activity along a stretch of road known to Coalition Forces as Main Supply Route Michigan, which runs through the heart of the city. The Marines of the company stand post to ensure anti-Coalition forces operating in the city cannot set improvised explosive devices along the important road.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald) Photo by: Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/2F75ED1888755B0485256EB9002F7B24?opendocument


Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 06:10 AM
500 Marines leave for Iraq

By: EDWARD GRAHAM - For the North County Times

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Early Friday morning, in a Camp Pendleton parking lot filled with hundreds of Marines and an equal number of M-16 rifles, 11-year-old Anissa Reyes waited patiently for three hours ---- sometimes smiling, occasionally bursting into tears ---- while her father prepared to leave his family for seven months.

Anissa's younger brother, J.J. Reyes, slept comfortably in the back seat of the family car while she and her mother held each other as they leaned against the tailgate. Anissa's father, Navy Hospital Corpsman Jeffery Reyes, was spending the last few hours with his family before heading to Iraq.

Reyes was one of 500 Marines and sailors in the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment who left for the Middle East in the dark hours of Friday morning. The group is part of the I Marine Expeditionary Force and will replace a battalion currently stationed in the Al Anbar Province in western Iraq, where dozens of U.S. service members have died in the last six months.

The danger of the region weighed heavily on the mind of Marcy Miesowitz, whose husband, Lance Cpl. Mark Miesowitz, was preparing to his wife and their young son.

"This is his first deployment since we have been together," she said. "The situation in Iraq worries me very much, especially because I don't want my son to grow up without a father and I don't want to be without a husband."

Reyes, who has seen her husband come and go on previous tours of duty, felt this deployment was much harder due to the current situation in Iraq. She added that she had an extensive support network in the Marine Corps.

"We have military support, they take really good care of us as Marine wives," she said. "Hopefully they will have some type of communication so we can hear his voice. That would make it easier for me and the kids while these months pass by."

Her husband did not seem quite so concerned, saying that he was going to Iraq with a well-honed fighting unit that would be ready for anything it encountered.

Some of the families said they worried about how they would explain to their younger children about possible violence in Iraq.

Sgt. Cam Weatherford said this would be his hardest deployment because his 6-year-old son, Reece, could now understand where his father was going ---- and how dangerous the trip might be.

"He is a pretty intelligent little boy, so he knows what is going on," said Weatherford. "I am so proud of him and his mother for sticking this through. This will be their third time going through this. They are warriors themselves."

Many seemed concerned with the well-being of their loved ones heading to Iraq.

Kimberly Coate, who was saying goodbye to boyfriend Lance Cpl. David Harris, said she couldn't wait for the deployment to be over.

"I wish the war would end and I wish they would all come home," she said. "All I want is for them all to come home."

The Marines themselves expressed anticipation for their work.

"I wouldn't call it excitement, I would call it more of an adrenalin-type rush," said Weatherford. "The bottom line is we are going over there to do our job and to try and win the hearts and minds of the people so they can have a free nation like us."



http://www.nctimes.com/content/articles/2004/06/19/military/16_58_496_18_04.jpg

Lance Cpl. Mark Miesowitz holds his son William Friday morning before deploying to Iraq. Wife Marcy Miesowitz is at left.
Edward Graham

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/06/19/military/16_58_496_18_04.txt


Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 06:11 AM
A special Father's Day
By DESIREE GRAND AND FRANZISKA CASTILLO
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 20, 2004)

There are the bundled photographs and letters, the few minutes each month when a wife's or a child's voice crackles across an overseas connection.

E-mail brings news of a place now painfully distant to the soldier caravaning through heat and unfamiliar desert, or to the sailor living in a submarine, unsure when he or she will return home.

It is perhaps on days like today, Father's Day, when these small connections with the world back home take on the most meaning for the roughly 138,000 military men and women still in Iraq. And it is on days like today when military personnel who have come home are perhaps most happy they no longer hold tight to snapshots.

About 612,000 active duty service men and women celebrate today as the parents of about 1.2 million American children. Hundreds of thousands of reservists are doing the same. And, many among both groups honor their fathers today.

Here are a few of their stories:

The Monacos


Worrying about one son in the military is hard enough. Try keeping track of three, said Frank Monaco Sr., 56, a retired U.S. Army colonel living in Mahopac.

Monaco's eldest son, U.S. Army Capt. Frank Jr., 31, is deployed in Baghdad where he commands a field artillery battery of the First Cavalry Division. Second son, 29-year-old Michael — also an Army captain — returned from Iraq in April. Joseph, 25, a first lieutenant with the U.S. Air Force, is stationed in Charleston, S.C., but flies all over the globe as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, among other missions.

A fourth son, Jeff, 21, attends Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, and as the family's sole nonmilitary child, is usually the only guaranteed guest at annual Father's Day celebrations.

Since 1996, when Frank Jr. graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the brothers have spent only one Father's Day together — in 1997, when the holiday fell on the same day as Frank Jr.'s wedding. But every year, each son makes an effort to call their father "from the far-reaching parts of the world they happen to be in at the time," Frank Monaco Sr. said.

Among the sons, only Frank Jr. is a father, and only he is stationed overseas. That means today is doubly hard for both branches of his family, his wife, Jennifer, said.

Jennifer knew she was lucky to have her husband safe at home in Killeen, Texas, last June to celebrate Father's Day with her and their children — John, who turns 6 on July 4, and Mary Catherine, now 2.

Today Frank Jr. is three months into a one-year or longer deployment in Iraq, and Jennifer, five months pregnant, has stopped watching television. News reports are just too scary. Even the radio is kept low to screen out the voices interrupting regular music broadcasts with bulletins from Iraq.

"Sometimes they come on and say, five people were killed in Baghdad, and I say, 'Oh my,' " Jennifer said. "My son wants to know if daddy will come home alive."

At nearby Fort Hood, Jennifer is a Family Readiness Group leader, meaning she helps other spouses deal with the stress of deployment. The group recently sent Frank Jr.'s unit a banner for Father's Day with pictures of the soldiers' children.

Support from townspeople, other wives and Michael Monaco — stationed at Fort Hood — make the separation easier, but little things still sting, like when a delivery man comes to the door and John rushes out, sure it's his dad coming home. Or when John follows another father around the post playground, eager for male attention. Most of the time, that father is just back from deployment and takes extra time with John, knowing a few months earlier, his own child was probably going through the same thing, Jennifer said.

On special days like the couple's seventh wedding anniversary, which was Tuesday, or John's recent kindergarten graduation, a father's absence is especially hard to bear. The family will spend the holiday weekend both with Jennifer's family in Orange Lake, N.Y., and in Mahopac with the Monacos.

Jennifer tries to remain stoic, knowing that as a parent she must stay strong for her children.

"We do miss him, but he does have a job to do and we know that," Jennifer said. "When I took the ring I accepted that as well."

The Rusts


A year ago, so many soldiers and Marines were lined up to use shared telephones in Kuwait that Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Rust of Goldens Bridge did not get a chance to call home on Father's Day.

This year, he is home safe from war, celebrating the holiday in full suburban-dad style with a family barbecue and a father-son soccer game. In less than two weeks, Rust's wife, Amora, is due to deliver the couple's third child, a girl.

Tallying all of this year's blessings leaves Rust feeling "on top of the world," he said.

Still, the horrors of war have proven impossible to leave behind on another continent, especially while Iraq is still in upheaval. Even on the happiest day, the threat of redeployment lingers. And Rust can never forget the fathers who will not see their children born.

"This is going to be a very special Father's Day for me," Rust said, "but at the same time it will be a reflection of sadness because I know folks who went over with me and didn't return. You think about their children and how this will be an empty Father's Day for them."

Rust's friend, U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy J. Arroyave, was killed April 15 near Ramadi, Iraq. Arroyave left behind three daughters and his wife, Rachelle, was pregnant when he died at age 30.

Though the official end of the war came more than a year ago, Amora believes conditions in Iraq are more dangerous now than ever, and shudders to imagine her husband returning there. She agreed to have a third baby only if Rust was relatively sure he would be home for the birth.

Sons Isaiah, 4, and Elijah, 6, also worry about their father going away again. Isaiah still sometimes cries when Rust leaves one weekend per month to inspect reservist units across the country, or on days when he has to report to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Though Rust kept in touch as much as possible while away, sending postcards, e-mails and even stuffed singing camels to the children, Isaiah still took the separation especially hard.

"You could hear on the phone that he felt like I abandoned him," Rust said. He credits Amora's dedication for helping the children through a tough period, made harder by the fact that reservist families are often geographically isolated from other military spouses.

"I saw how strong she was to manage those two little boys," Rust said. "That took a lot."

While in Iraq and Kuwait, Rust would talk to other Marines about their children and pore over old photographs of his own family picking apples, or playing together at an amusement park. "Each time of the year, I would think about what Amora and the boys were doing and how she was filling the void of me not being there," he said.

Once reunited, a two-week trip to Legoland, a wild animal park and Disneyland made up for six months worth of missed family weekends. Of course, the best gift is having her husband home, Amora said.

"When you come back, life seems so much better," Rust said.

continued.........

thedrifter
06-20-04, 06:12 AM
The Barksdales


When Marine Cpl. Stuart Barksdale, 25, left for Kuwait in February 2003, his son Xavier was still young enough to wear newborn clothes. When he returned four months later, the baby seemed to have to doubled in size, and could already sit up by himself, Barksdale remembered.

"I thought, man, this boy is big," he said. "But he wasn't afraid of me at all. I just went right to him and picked him up."

Barksdale, a communications technician with the 6th Communications Battalion, 4th Marine Division, missed seeing both Xavier and stepdaughter Armani, 3, grow up while he was away, but wife Tia's strength and a photo album of family pictures helped keep his spirits up.

"It was hard for my wife to raise two kids on her own," Barksdale said, but he made a point of calling both her and his parents, Linda and Stuart Barksdale in Elmsford, as often as possible.

The young couple, now living in Yonkers, plans to celebrate the holiday today by going out to dinner and a vacation to Florida may follow later in the year.

"When I came home, I put Kuwait behind me," said Barksdale, who is on inactive ready reserve status after 6 years in the Marines, and working in a post office in Hawthorne. "It was a big surprise me being activated. Now, I just want to get on with my life."

The Powers family


Today will be a day unlike all others for Walter Powers and his family — his first Father's Day home since 2001.

Sept. 11, 2001, began two years of tough work and separations from family for Powers, 38, a New York City firefighter and major with a Marine reservist unit.

The day terrorists hit the World Trade Center, Powers' fire company responded to the attacks, and he also worked at Ground Zero during the heartbreaking weeks that followed. Shortly thereafter, his Marine unit was activated, and he began a two-year stint that would take him to Camp Lejeune, N.C., and after a short respite at home, back to duty, this time in Iraq.

In past years, Powers served in the first Gulf War and in Somalia, so missed holidays and anxiety are hardly new for his family, who live in the Crestwood section of Yonkers. Over the years, Powers said, their support kept him going through all that he has experienced.

"Always knowing that no matter what, they are waiting for me back home, makes it easier for me," Powers said.

Since his return in August, Powers has been catching up with 13-year-old Nicholas and 10-year-old Sam, and that means, among other things, many games of tennis and hockey. But most importantly, said wife, Julianne, is the laughter that has returned to their home.

Plans for the holiday include an overnight stay in Powers' favorite place, New York City, but being together is the real present, Julianne said.

"It is very special to see Wally with the kids. We are not complete without him," she said. "The day is not so much about the gifts. He has all the cards and all the books. What we need now is the laughter and the conversations."

Julianne, 39, spent last Father's Day with the Sadowskis, another Crestwood family who had a son in Iraq. In fact, Maj. Glenn Sadowski was a childhood friend of Powers and the two are part of the same reservist unit, the 2nd Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment, based in Garden City. The support from the community and Powers' honesty with his sons made his absence easier to deal with.

"Two years in a child's life is very important, but Wally has always been open with them. He explains where he is going, why and how long he will be away. He is really good with that," Julianne said.

The Rojas family


Army Cpl. Ricardo Rojas, 21, is a new father in every sense of the word.

Rojas, of New City, became a father in September, but it wasn't until Amaya Grace Rojas was well past the newborn stage that he was finally able to hold and kiss the little girl. Serving in Iraq, Rojas couldn't be there for the birth of his first child — though technology did offer one early connection between father and daughter. He was able to hear the delivery via satellite phone.

Rojas arrived home barely two months ago. Amaya is now a 9-month-old infant, sitting up on her own and hard at the task of mastering a crawl.

His wife, Janet Rodriguez, 22, has planned a family dinner that will include a reflective moment, somewhat like a Thanksgiving dinner, with the focus on Rojas.

"A lot of families still don't have their father home, and he still might be sent out again," Rodriguez said. "We just really want to appreciate what we missed out on."

Rodriguez learned of her pregnancy the same day Rojas learned of his deployment with his unit, the 442nd Military Police based out of Orangeburg. When his National Guard unit left in April 2003, Rodriguez was determined not to leave her husband out of the pregnancy and would send him recordings of all the doctor visits. Her greatest concern was that when Rojas returned the baby would view him as a stranger. She knew he felt bad about missing the baby's first kick and other firsts, but her fears were soon laid to rest.

"I never wanted him to think that being apart made him less of a father, and I didn't want her to respond differently to him. But as soon as he held her, she knew," Rodriguez said.

Rojas spends morning and night with Amaya, amazed at her distinct personality and at his new title and duties. And there are the small things. Like the time he lay her down on the bed and went to get her bottle. Upon his return she was sitting up.

"I was so happy when I saw her crawl or wave goodbye. I really appreciate those first times," he said.

Included in those first times is Amaya saying mama and dada and seeing her parents together in the same room.

"I tend to forget sometimes that a year ago he was not here," Rodriguez said. "Wow. It's amazing."

http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/062004/a0120iraqfather.html


Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 06:13 AM
Marine helps put out fire, saves other structures from peril
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 2004619111537
Story by Sgt. J.L. Zimmer III



AL ASAD, Iraq (June 19, 2004) -- A Reserve infantry Marine put out a fire here that saved a billeting compound from destruction, May 13.

Lance Cpl. J. Dustin Campbell, rifleman, 3rd squad, 3rd platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Marine Wing Support Group 37, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, was walking to lunch when he saw smoke billowing out of container used for billeting private third country national workers. Campbell is a volunteer firefighter in his hometown of Union County, Tenn.

"When I was just outside the living compound I first saw smoke," said the 20-year-old. "About 50 feet further down I could see flames coming from the top of the trailer."

Campbell's training as a volunteer firefighter allowed him to quickly react to the situation facing him.

"I identified myself as a trained firefighter when I arrived on the scene," he added. "I immediately realized the other structures around the burning trailer were in danger so I tried to keep them from catching on fire. There was a water truck inside the compound so I used its (high pressure) hose to keep the flames away from the other buildings."

Campbell did not know at the time that 1st Lt. Gene C. Wynne, 1st platoon commander, Company A, 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, MWSG-37, saw the smoke from a distance and rushed to see what he could do to help.

"I was the only person there that I was aware of at the time, who had stopped to try and help," Campbell said. "I was unaware Lieutenant Wynne was on the other side of the trailer dowsing the flames."

According to Wynne, a 25-year-old New York City, native, and also a three-year volunteer firefighter for Escambia County Fire Rescue in Pensacola, Florida, Campbell was the first person on the scene containing the fire until additional help arrived.

"When I got there, Campbell already had a hose in his hand and was protecting the surrounding structures," he said. "Essentially, he was the only person there and could not do much by himself. There were others just standing around watching what was going on."

Wynne added that Campbell's heroic efforts not only demonstrated bravery; they showed an example of Marines who go above and beyond the call of duty.

"He tried to go into the trailer to suppress the fire and to see if there was anyone in there, but the doors were engulfed in flames and he couldn't get inside," Wynne said. "Not everyone was running in there to help out but he took all the necessary precautions to protect himself when the smoke was too thick. He saved the contractor's money by saving those other structures."

First Sgt. David P. Perry, first sergeant, Co. L., praised Campbell's valiant efforts in the face of danger and credits him with helping to avert certain catastrophe.

"He is a motivated young Devil dog," said Perry, a 43-year-old Maryville, Tenn., native. "If he and Lieutenant Wynne had not been there, I think that compound would have burned down. He did not have to go in there, but he knew what was the right thing to do."

Campbell's own opinion of his actions shows humility and a level of maturity far beyond his 20 years.

"I did the best I could with what I had," Campbell said. "In boot camp my drill instructor always told me to do what is right. What kind of Marine would I have been if I didn't act on my instincts?"

While Campbell feels what he did does not merit praise, the expressions of gratitude he received from the residents of the compound after the fire were reward enough for the Marine.

"I don't believe I deserve anything for what I did that day," he said. "I went back to the scene the next day and the workers were thanking me and shaking my hand for what I did and that is all I need. I know I did what was right."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004619122745/$file/001-Campbell-lr.jpg

The fire that destroyed a living trailer for third country national workers, at Al Asad, Iraq, May 13, rages out of control until it was put out by Lance Cpl. J. Dustin Campbell, rifleman, 3rd squad, 3rd platoon, Company L, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Marine Wing Support Group 37, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Campbell is a 20-year-old volunteer firefighter in his hometown of Union County, Tenn. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Houston F. White Jr.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/617E7E4C661EA34785256EB80053D3F0?opendocument

Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 06:14 AM
24th MEU elements head out
June 20,2004
ERIC STEINKOPFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF

About a year ago, Marines and sailors with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment were returning home to a heroes' welcome.

They had served as part of Task Force Tarawa during the drive toward Baghdad in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and they lost several of their comrades during the intense fighting in and around the town of An Nasiriyah.

This time, they are on their way back to Iraq as the ground combat element for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Before then, though, there will be a couple of weeks of training in California, and in the wee hours of Saturday morning, about 850 troops gathered near River Road to begin the trip from Camp Lejeune to March Air Force Base.

Among those making their second trip to Iraq is Lance Cpl. Josh Lopez, 24, an infantryman from Philadelphia, Pa. who is now a team leader with 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company.

"I lost 18 of my best friends last time," Lopez said as he and his wife of over two years, Missy said their goodbyes.

Lopez expressed confidence that his unit was better prepared for this mission, but that didn't eliminate Missy's concerns.

"I don't want him to go with all the checkpoints and car bombings you see on TV," she said, expressing the view of many friends and families of Marines. "I think of that every day."

Although their traditional MEU work-up has been cut short about a month and a half and they will not be sailing to the Persian Gulf on amphibious assault ships, Lopez says they're ready.

"I've been working out in the gym, training my guys and giving them moral support," Lopez said. "I've checked on their families and made sure that they know what to expect."

Nearby, Lance Cpl. Nathan Sinclair, 22, of Marshalltown, Iowa, was saying goodbye to his fiancée Piper West from Centre, Ala.

Sinclair is an infantryman who recently joined 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company from a fleet antiterrorist security team out of Yorktown, Va. While he was with that unit, Sinclair learned special tactics, techniques and procedures to deal with terrorists that he hopes will carry over to their upcoming duties.

"We did lots of urban training that correlates to the security and stability operations," Sinclair said. "You need to mentally prepare yourself. Being away from your family is hard, but you have to stay in the game. You're not alone."

Across the field, tiny groups of family and friends gathered to kill time until it was time to leave. Some said their final goodbyes and made small talk or tapped nervously on their weapons, while others smoked a last cigarette, sharpened knives or broke open a tasty MRE.

Lance Cpl. Cesar Araujoherrera, 24, a machine gunner from El Centro, Calif., assigned to Weapons Platoon, Charlie Company, was spending a few final moments hugging his wife, Julie, and playing with his son, "Little Cesar."

Araujoherrera has been with the unit 2 ??ars and is also a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, but he said there are some differences because of the chaos and uncertainty.

"It's way different," Araujoherrera said. "People are more nervous than last time."

"So many things are going through my mind," said Julie, who was on the verge of tears. "But I feel confident because it's an experienced unit."

In the early morning darkness, a gunnery sergeant used a flashlight to read a list of names aloud from his clipboard as he mustered troops from Charlie Company and Weapons Company before they climbed aboard a line of buses waiting to take them to aircraft.


Contact Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@jdnews.com or 353-1171, Ext. 236.




http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=23500&Section=News


Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 07:48 AM
Red Carpet Of Yellow Ribbons For Distinguished Local Veteran
Dunlap
Josh Brogadir

A local war veteran is recovering from a serious injury he suffered while serving in Iraq.
It has taken Gunnery Sergeant David Dill more than a year to heal after 10 surgeries and three amputations.
Yellow ribbons, balloons, and flags are everywhere you look in Dunlap's Lake of the Woods neighborhood.
They're paying tribute to a Peoria native and distinguished veteran, to welcome him back to the Heart of Illinois.
David Dill doesn’t want you to think he's done anything that deserves any special recognition.
Dill says, “A lot of people try to make out the wounded guys coming back from Iraq as heroes and I can understand that thought. But it doesn't take a lot of thought to get wounded, it's not a real heroic event, so I don't feel heroic.”
But it's hard not to think of heroism when you hear Dill's story.
The 21-year veteran of the marines received a purple heart after losing his right leg just over a year ago in Iraq.
Dill says, “I actually was on my way back to Kuwait, we were in our retrograde.
I just stepped on a land mine, it's as simple as that.”
An injury that most people would never be able to overcome, but one he and his family use as a source of strength.
Dill’s wife Christine says, “We see life now as half full, not half empty. We've got a whole lot of living to do and a whole lot of catching up to do.”
David says, “I don't catch myself in a bad mood all that often anymore.
It's a new lease on life, you realize how precious it is.”
And now David, Christine, and their son Joe are here in the Heart of Illinois, getting special recognition from those around them, and deservedly so.
And David has made good on a promise he made to Christine 18 years ago, buying a home for the family for the very first time.
David also wants to make sure people don't misunderstand what's going on overseas.
He says the Iraqi people embraced the arrival of the troops when they first made it to Baghdad last year.
And he says that despite many negative reports, most Iraqis are pleased with America's role there.

http://www.hoinews.com/home/headlines/839547.html


Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 08:44 AM
What Next?

RS convenes a panel of experts to discuss what went wrong in Iraq

By AMANDA GRISCOM


At the end of 2002, as the Bush administration prepared to invade Iraq, Rolling Stone convened a panel of experts to assess the march to war. Things have since gone far worse than most imagined. There is no evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction -- the rationale used to justify the invasion. The fighting continues to escalate long after Bush declared "mission accomplished," and the White House tried to ignore the abuse and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers. As the U.S. prepares to hand over control to an interim Iraqi government, we reconvened key members of our panel, along with some new experts, to examine the current situation in Iraq. What went wrong -- and what should we do now?
Before we look forward, let's look back. What have been our biggest strategic blunders since we invaded Iraq?

Gen. Anthony Zinni: We've had a year of disasters. The strategy going into Iraq was patently ridiculous -- this idea that we'd generate Jeffersonian democracy and plant the seed of freedom in the Middle East. The rationale was even worse: We grossly overstated the threat and cooked the books on the intelligence. Then we put on the ground a half-baked pickup team that has alienated the people and can't connect to viable leadership.

Gen. Wesley Clark: We went in with far too few troops and seat-of-the-pants planning. We've been there for more than a year, and the borders still aren't being controlled -- jihadis and extremists are coming in from Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Fuel convoys are getting routinely attacked; oil facilities and police stations are regularly targeted.

Rand Beers: The precondition to freedom is security. You can't succeed in beating the insurgents unless you can convince the people that they can be protected.

Thomas P.M. Barnett: It was a major mistake for the Bush administration to say to potential allies, "If you're too big a pussy to show up for the war, we're not going to let you in on the peace or rehab process -- and don't expect any contracts." We had such a macho view of war that we completely miscalculated the dangers of peacekeeping.

Fouad Ajami: Now we're a Johnny-come-lately for a U.N. resolution to internationalize the political process. You might call it deathbed multilateralism.

What about the blunders behind the scenes at the White House?

Sen. Joseph Biden: I've been a senator through seven administrations, and this is by far the most divided one I've ever served with. The internal discord is rampant. It's not just Colin Powell, who has differed with Vice President Cheney at every turn. It isn't just Richard Clarke and the others on the intelligence team who have angrily defected. It's General Eric Shinseki, who was fired for telling the truth. It's Lawrence Lindsay, Bush's economic adviser, who was fired for saying the war was going to cost $200 billion. The price tag is even higher now, and still they submit a budget for 2005 without a single penny for Iraq. What in the hell is going on?

Bob Kerrey: Karl Rove's hair is on fire -- he's worrying about what the polls are saying about America's attitude toward Iraq. Voters want out. The greatest risk is that we'll make decisions for political reasons -- that Rove will say we've got to call it quits or we're not going to win in November.

What would happen if we did pull out in a hurry?

Zinni: To pull out now would be a tremendous defeat. It would accelerate the path to civil war and make us and the region extremely vulnerable. The boys aren't coming home anytime soon.

Youssef Ibrahim: We've got to cut our losses -- the sooner the better. Our presence is only aggravating the chances for civil war. The best-case scenario at this point is for the U.S. to declare victory and get the hell out. Iraqi resistance is rising by the day, and the United Nations, NATO and the Europeans are refusing to come in. There is no fig leaf to put on this.

Biden: It would be strategic suicide if America withdrew anytime soon. I meet regularly with a group of seven four-star generals about Iraq; each one says we don't have enough force protection to even withdraw in an orderly fashion. It could be a bloodbath on the way out, and hasten civil war.

Would civil war spill over the borders to create a regional conflict?

Biden: Very likely. If civil war breaks out in Iraq, the Sunni Triangle will become a snake pit and violence will spiral throughout the region. Within five years you'll see the emergence of another strongman in Iraq. Afghanistan will fall and become a new hotbed of terror. Radical Islamists will seize control in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and the same thing could occur in Iran, which will become the major power in the region.

Beers: It could spill over the borders -- no question about it -- but would it drag the other states in? More likely, the border states would do everything to contain the conflict to Iraq. Let's be cautious about dreaming up extreme scenarios. The situation in Iraq is still salvageable.

So let's assume we're in it for the long haul. How do we even begin to regain control?

Zinni: Security is the most important issue short-term. I'm talking probably at least a year and twice the number of boots. People won't help build a new Iraq unless they can walk to a police station -- much less a voting booth -- without fear of getting killed.

Barnett: The Bush team needs to eat crow and make the tough deals necessary to internationalize this. They need to call a summit meeting of the major powers, including Russia, China and India, and say, "We have a problem in Iraq. Our loss would be as big a loss for you -- economically and otherwise -- as for us. What will it take to get 10,000 Chinese troops, 10,000 Indian troops, 10,000 Russian troops? What do you want in return?" We know what the deals are. India would probably demand, for example, that we don't declare Pakistan a major ally. Russia wants full membership in NATO. China might ask us to stop planning a missile defense in northeast Asia.

Zinni: The international soldiers have to be there. You have to see the bar scene from Star Wars, where there's a lot of different uniforms, not just all American desert cammies.

Biden: We need to rapidly train an Iraqi army and police force. They need to feel they are fighting for themselves. If I'm president of the United States, my orders to our generals and ambassador are, "If I see you once on Iraqi television, you're fired. I want Iraqi faces on Iraqi television." It should take two to three years to get 35,000 Iraqi troops out there.

Should we even be talking about a June 30th hand-over? Are we prepared?

Clark: That date was picked as a political gambit before there was a real plan for what to do. We're not prepared, but we're not going to be able to renege on that commitment.

Ibrahim: June 30th is the biggest joke around. There will still be 135,000 American soldiers in Iraq. We will pick a new governing council -- a whole bunch of new lackeys. A superambassador -- John Negroponte -- will command an embassy of 3,000 Americans. Every controversial thing that the new government does will look like Negroponte's fault.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock: The interim government will be sovereign in the sense that Iraqis will be equal partners in every decision made by America and the international community -- in running the budget, trying Saddam, determining the future of the oil industry. Decisions cannot be executed without their agreement.

Ajami: We have to transfer power. This should have happened long ago. We could have gotten an Iraqi to run the country the way we got Hamid Karzai to run Afghanistan. America would still have had considerable influence behind the scenes, but we should never have had an American out front -- it's why the polls show that eighty-two percent of Iraqis want us to leave immediately.

We keep hearing that the violence will escalate around June 30th and the year-end elections -- that it will only get worse before it gets better.

Chas Freeman: It's not rocket science to figure out that the easiest way for the interim Iraqi authority to establish credibility among its people will be to turn on the U.S. By refusing to give authority, we will create a situation in which they will feel obliged to seize it from us.

Zinni: If you're going to have an election, the first thing you have to do is determine the form of government you're going to have: parliament, a federated system, a confederated system? You need political parties. I don't see that happening. Iraqis don't understand what kind of government they're going to have. They are going to be told how to vote in Friday prayers by some mullah.

Kerrey: Any time you have disorder, any radical who stands on a stump and gives a speech wins the day. So I can get up and say to a religious Shiite in Baghdad, "We didn't have prostitution in the old days, so vote for me, and anyone who is a prostitute will be beaten. If you don't like this disorder, we'll bring order back with a strict interpretation of Islamic law." He'll get a standing ovation.

We went into Iraq thinking it was a secular state, but the political rhetoric among Shiite and Sunni leaders has intensified. Is religion taking the place of politics?

continued......

thedrifter
06-20-04, 08:45 AM
Ajami: I supported the war in part because Iraq had in it the roots of secular culture, which I believed positioned it well to adopt a representative government. What I never imagined was how quickly...

thedrifter
06-20-04, 08:46 AM
Kerrey: We need a coalition of the pragmatic in the White House, not of the religious or ideological. John Kerry will be much more capable of making the tough deals necessary to bring in the allies and make it work. In an odd way, that's good news for Bush. I predict that in the end, the two of them will celebrate a great bipartisan foreign-policy victory in Iraq, begun by President Bush and finished by President Kerry.

Biden: About six months ago, the president said to me, "Well, at least I make strong decisions, I lead." I said, "Mr. President, look behind you. Leaders have followers. No one's following. Nobody."

The Rolling Stone Panel: Gen. Anthony Zinni Commander in chief of Centcom, 1997-2000; special envoy to the Middle East, 2002-2003; author of Battle Ready

Gen. Wesley Clark Supreme allied commander, Europe, 1997-2000; led NATO military campaign in Kosovo Rand Beers Counterterrorism adviser to President Bush, 2002-2003; national security adviser to Sen. John Kerry Sen. Joseph Biden Ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Thomas P.M. Barnett Strategic adviser to the Defense Department, 2001-2003; faculty member of U.S. Naval War College; author of The Pentagon's New Map Fouad Ajami, Director of Middle Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University

Sir Jeremy Greenstock British diplomat in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, 1969-2004; U.N. representative, 1998-2003; special representative for Iraq, 2003-2004

Youssef Ibrahim Managing director of the Dubai-based Strategic Energy Investment Group; former Middle Eastern correspondent for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal

Bob Kerrey Senator from Nebraska, 1988-2000; president of New School University

Chas Freeman U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, 1989-1992; assistant secretary of defense, 1993-1994

(Posted Jun 16, 2004)


http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story?id=6185043&pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single7&rnd=1087738971765&has-player=true&version=6.0.8.1024


Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 09:31 AM
June 18, 2004

Troops kill 13 in fierce 12-hour firefight near Baqubah (Video)

By Gina Cavallaro and M. Scott Mahaskey
Times staff writers

BAQUBAH, Iraq — The panels above the doors on the up-armored Humvee are emblazoned with the words “rolling vengeance” and the inscription “R.I.P” is stenciled on the rear and sides of the truck next to the names of six soldiers killed in a month of fighting in the western Diyala province.
The truck belongs to Capt. Ty Johnson, commander of F Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry, the Brigade Reconnaissance Troop for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, and it has been at the scene of several violent engagements with a stubborn and well-armed insurgency.

Not all the engagements had been on the BRT’s terms. But this fight, the one in Buhritz, would be.

For weeks, a man the U.S. military described as a “criminal gang leader” delivered a taunting message, banning the U.S.-led coalition from entering Buhritz, a suburban hamlet on the south side of this provincial seat, boasting that they would be engaged if they dared come in.

Those were fighting words for 3rd BCT commander Col. Dana Pittard, whose goal is to make the place safe before the June 30 handover of power to the Iraqi government.

Adding fuel to the fire, a pair of area Mosques were known to have been preaching continued violence against coalition forces, defying pleas by sheiks and the governor’s office to stop.

“If they want to work with us, we’ll work with them. If they want to preach hate, we’ll fight them tooth and nail,” Pittard told the province’s deputy governor a few days before the operation, but the violence continued.

There are an average of 25 attacks on coalition forces every week in the western Diyala province, but the last straw came June 16 when a civil affairs team meeting with the town’s mayor was ambushed by rocket-propelled grenades.

Settling in, taunting back

Rolling in at dawn on June 17 with a dozen tactical vehicles, three Bradley Fighting Vehicles and three times their basic load of ammunition, Johnson and 45 of his soldiers commandeered a two-story house and settled in for a fight they anticipated would begin toward evening.

The troop taunted the bad guys by playing the division’s Big Red One song, and songs by Metallica and Toby Keith on a giant loudspeaker.

Just four hours later — just before 10 a.m. — they got their fight when incoming small arms fire broke the morning calm and sent townspeople scattering for cover. View exclusive video of the firefight.

“Pop! Pop! Pop!”

Johnson high-tailed it to the rooftop where his scouts were lighting up the landscape from their fighting positions.

“What do we got men!? What do we got!?” he shouted over the gunfire before he picked up his own weapon and began returning fire.

Dozens of enemy fighters, some dressed in all black, darted through yards, alleyways and an adjacent cemetery firing grenades, rockets and mortars, while others drove by and attacked with AK-47 assault rifles. The attack was launched from every direction.

Within minutes, the floor on the rooftop looked like a brass carpet of spent shells and the scouts dodged and ducked bullets and other deadly projectiles. Their war cries and adrenaline-laced laughter punctuated the confirmed killing of fighters who proved stealthy, and the destruction of hiding places on the ground brought victory shouts.

About three hours into what became a 12-hour battle, a combat re-supply was staged in front of the house under heavy cover fire.

The fighting raged on both sides, and the soldiers manned fighting positions in shifts .

One Bradley was crippled by an armor-piercing rocket-propelled grenade and chunks of concrete sprayed the rooftop by incoming fire that narrowly missed several scouts.

The town was rocked with the deafening sound of automatic weapons fire and the pounding of 25mm rounds from the Bradleys.

The air was thick with smoke and, as temperatures soared to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, half the troop’s soldiers were taken out of the fight and given an intravenous solution to avoid dehydration.

During a brief pause in the exchange of fire, a 16-year-old boy, a member of the family that had been hastily evicted early in the morning, stepped over the soldiers and empty ammunition boxes to feed his caged birds.

The enemy had stopped firing by 10 p.m.

By Johnson’s estimate, there were close to 100 enemy fighters, 13 confirmed enemy killed, and close to 100,000 rounds of spent U.S. ammunition from M16s, 240 Bs, Mark 19s, squad automatic weapons and 50 caliber machine guns. The BRT suffered no casualties.

The next morning at 6 a.m., when the BRT vacated the house after paying the occupants $200 for their trouble, the streets were empty except for one truck that drove past and at least one bloodied fighter who staggered through looking for aid.

Hired guns

Sources in the governor’s office claim that rebels who fought in Najaf and Fallujah during the insurgency uprising there in April and May are paid to travel to Baqubah to kill Americans and to undermine efforts by coalition forces to establish a new Iraqi government.

The BRT’s job is to conduct offensive operations, carry out combat and reconnaissance patrols and fight against a seemingly endless stream of those insurgents, identified as former regime loyalists, religious fanatics, foreign terrorists and men labeled by the military as criminals who just want to fight.

The BRT forms part of the 3rd BCT’s three-pronged approach to getting things in order by June 30.

On the other side of that approach is Pittard and his battalion commanders and civil affairs teams who interact daily with local businessmen, governors, tribal leaders and municipal workers such as teachers, engineers and health professionals.

The third prong entails information operations — getting the word out to the local population about what the brigade is doing to help foster Iraqi sovereignty and encouraging the people they reach to voluntary divulge the names and whereabouts of insurgents and individuals or groups who pay them to fight.

Trying to keep all three going is continually overshadowed by the lack of a stable environment.

“We’re working to integrate Iraqi security forces to establish the conditions for civil-military self-reliance,” said Lt. Col. Keiron Todd, executive officer of 3rd BCT. “We’re not there yet, but we’re working really hard at it.

“We’re getting [the government] more involved, more structured. The challenge becomes the security part.”

By June 30, Todd said the combat patrols will be carried out jointly with Iraqi police and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers. Intelligence-driven operations will also be a joint effort.

But the fledgling enforcers of law and order are still finding their way and barely even have enough equipment or the clout among the population to be totally effective.

“Are we at war? We’re fighting, we’re fighting. We have attacks every day,” said Todd, who was a tank company executive officer in Operation Desert Storm.

“It’s different than anything I’ve read about, It’s different than anything I’ve experienced.”


View exclusive video of the firefight.
Due to the extreme popularity of this feature, you may experience trouble viewing the video. If this occurs, please try again later.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?s=1-292925-fighting.php


http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-3021780.php


Ellie

thedrifter
06-20-04, 12:58 PM
06-15-2004

Frontline Report



Things have remained moderately quiet or maybe now we are just used to the days of war. A few days ago two more men from my unit were killed in action along with some more wounded due to an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). Attempted IED attacks happen daily here, however we have been tremendously blessed to either find them first or, by the grace of God, not catching any shrapnel. The “up-armor kits,” that were added to our HUMV’s to protect us, work better than the local welding jobs we had for armor before. However, I saw the doors on a HUMV that was hit the other day and the blast went through the armor. This is amazing because the “up-armor” is supposed to stop a .50 Cal round.

Yesterday, a Company’s CO was hit, but nobody in his vehicle was injured. Sadly, after the explosion, an Iraqi driver passing the scene accidentally hit and killed a small boy that had just survived the attack. Then yesterday, some Marines that were escorting a civil affairs team from our Battalion were ambushed by IEDs, small arms fire, and RPGs. This was right next to the Sheik’s house where we have been IED’ed many time before. And all this despite the U.S. having given his people energy, a new water pump, a generator, and support for schools. The Sheik claims that he is being framed, although our intelligence people are very skeptical. To counter these IEDs we have been patrolling the roads a lot and setting up counter-IED ambushes. However, it is very rare that we catch them because there are so many miles of road and we, in my opinion, just set ourselves up for more IEDs with all the military traffic.

The other day my platoon and I went out in the desert to set up a covert observation post in order to listen to the Call for Prayer. Our translators said that the Iman was calling for the people to draw arms against the US because we are the evil infidels and murders. These people are brain-washed like crazy! Then we went to meet with the new ICDC (Iraqi Militia) Colonel in our AO (Area of Operations) in greater Fallujah. He was given 5 days to resign or the AIF (“Anti-Iraqi Forces” – the newest PC term for the enemy) was going to kill him and his family. These threats are incredibly serious. I have known at least ten mayors and police chiefs that have been murdered here in the last few months for cooperating with Coalition Forces. It was the 5th day when we visited the ICDC HQ and he was still there. This was a great sign that he is serious and has the guts to do the job.

Many of these Fallujahian ICDC soldiers were extremely anti-American and anti-Bush while extremely pro-Saddam. They say Saddam never tortured them like the Americans did in Abu Grahib, and that he left them alone. This is a crazy lie! I have met too many Iraqis whose brothers, fathers, and sisters were taken away and never seen again. And this because they might have mentioned something against the Saddam Regime. Then the Iraqi soldiers told me that the Americans break-in in the middle of the night and have killed babies. Again lies! We have done Cordon Searches, where we bust into homes of the enemy hierarchy, but we never fire unless we are getting shot at and the burden of proof required for us to search a house is so great that there is never a question that the suspect we are hitting is an extremely bad hombre.

However, my platoon has stumbled across abandon homes with families that have been executed by AK-47 fire and left to rot, usually it is just the father and children dead and the mother is taken to be one of these bad guys wives. Most likely these people were punished for nothing more than simply cooperating with the Coalition.

My Battalion has spent over a million dollars improving the plumbing, and electrical problems that were ignored for all the years of Saddam’s regime. We have spent over $800,000 on schools and half a million on hospitals. We have built city buildings for their mayor’s office, police stations, and Militia Posts. We bought all of their policemen, security forces, and militia armored vests and weapons, as well as paid their salaries. We have protected their new religious freedoms as well as the many other things they previously weren’t allowed to do under Saddam, such as have Satellite TV. Too many have either died or been wounded trying to keep these freedoms alive. Yet we are not allowed to fly or display American Flags in order to be sensitive to Iraqi feelings. Nine men in my new platoon have Purple Hearts, some of them have two Purple Hearts.

My Platoon is amazing. I am now a rifle Platoon Leader, and these guys are studs. They are all tremendously mature and bright men that constantly humble me when I think about how lucky I am to lead them. They are all the type of guys I would have wanted to be friends with in college and high school and have a tremendously positive and humorous attitude. This is mainly due to our Platoon Sergeant. He is hysterical and reminds me of a Hawaiian Mark Snyder. Also our company commander is the best one could anyone could ever have. He is a true leader that cares about his men and he leads from the front.

I know this letter is far to long so I will end it with a new list of people to pray for since clearly prayer and the good Lord are what has kept us safe.

A YOUNG LT IN IRAQ


http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Special%20Reports.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=255&rnd=28.79831751941936


Ellie